Vesta C. Slavens

Funeral services for Vesta C. Slavens, 96, of Bettendorf, will be held at 1 p.m. on Thursday, June 17, 2010, at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Bettendorf. Burial will follow at Davenport Memorial Park Cemetery. The family will greet friends from 11 a.m. until the 1 p.m. service at the church. Mrs. Slavens died on Sunday, June 13, 2010, at the Clarissa C. Cook Hospice House in Bettendorf. Cunnick-Collins Mortuary and Cremation Service is assisting the family with arrangements. Vesta Collette Hickman was born on January 5, 1914, in Promise City, Iowa, the daughter of Earl and Hazel (Kinser) Hickman. She grew up on a small farm in Southern Iowa where she rode a pony to grade school. Vesta graduated from Centerville Community College. In 1932, she married the love of her life, Joe B. Slavens. Together they moved to the Quad City area in the 1940s. Later in life she would travel throughout the United States and around the world.Vesta and Joe built and operated Slavens Apartments on State Street, Bettendorf. In 1960, they built the Slavens Manor Apartments, 104 units on Kimberly Road, which Vesta managed for over 30 years until the complex was converted to condominiums. Vesta also served on the Board of Directors of Northwest Bank & Trust Company from 1973 until her death.Vesta loved to play bridge and for over 45 years played weekly in private gatherings and at many different local venues, including The Outing Club and the Davenport Moose Lodge. Vesta was a loving, caring, supportive person to nearly everyone she met in her lifetime. She was, first of all, a loving wife and a role model for her sons, Bob and Jim, as well as her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Vesta’s life of dedication to her family, honesty, integrity, business acumen, and character will live on in her family, friends, and associates, whose lives were benefited by her presence. Survivors include her son, James E. (Cheri) Slavens of Bettendorf; daughter-in-law, Muriel Slavens of Bettendorf (the widow of Bob J. Slavens); two sisters, Kay Meyer and Wanda (William) Smith, both of Bettendorf; five grandchildren, Jane (Christopher) Flesher of Pleasant Valley, Iowa, Johnathan (Maria) Slavens of Chanhassen, Minn., Joe (Ann) Slavens of Bettendorf, Matthew (Amanda) Slavens of Davenport, and Samuel (Christina) Slavens of Bettendorf; 13 great-grandchildren, Emily Slavens, Les Flesher, Ali Slavens, Shelby Slavens, Brinlee Flesher, Sara Slavens, Bobbie Slavens, Nicholas Slavens, Benjamin Slavens, Connor Slavens, Luke Slavens, Ian Slavens, and Maxwell Slavens; along with her many other friends and family. She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, Joe, in 1964, her son, Bob, in 2001, and a great-grandson, Colin Slavens, in 1997. Memorials may be made to Clarissa C. Cook Hospice House, Bettendorf.